Merchants Share Discussion Threads

[zac0_4] 31/5/2020 12:10

dundu69, tim3 and ct2000 - This economic downturn has clearly demonstrated to me what works and doesn't work in my portfolio. I can broadly split my holdings into 3 categories - single shares, investment trusts and investment funds.

I'll shares with you a summary of my experience for each of the categories over the last 12 months. All figures will be total return ie capital and dividend income.

I'll post data on 2 or 3 additional posts so that it's easy to follow. If this is not of interest to anyone then apologies and simply ignore.

[dandu69] 31/5/2020 11:55

Hi Tim3, thanks for the advise and insight. I think I`m inclined to agree following the past few months. I`m looking at putting half my funds in MRCH and IUKD, both of which I have owned in the past I feel these are more suited to my investment goals and approach. The other half is in GSK and for a little excitement - DNL. Looking to add on any market weakness over the next few months.

[tim 3] 30/5/2020 14:02

Tell you what wish I had added at £3 but was too busy worrying my current portfolio was in free fall but so often time has shown that really is the time to buy.

I have repositioned my portfolio and got some exposure to the US buying an S&P etf just after the madness.

I now have a percentage of my investment capital in cash which I will use to buy if things get crazy again if they don't will probably just keep it on the sidelines for a while see how things pan out.

dandu69

A few years ago I came to the conclusion that multi share instruments are much more suited to my investing requirements than individual shares.Its not as much fun and you can get lucky with the odd share but unless you are really lucky or prepared to spend a lot of time building and monitoring a balanced portfolio then for me anyway investment trusts and etf's are a much better option.

[dandu69] 30/5/2020 10:01

yes, certainly looking to add on the next weakness for long term.

[dandu69] 29/5/2020 20:43

Looking to get back into these soon, held a few years ago and been stung a fair bit by the crash. Beginning to think that holding shares in funds / etf`s rather than individual companies might be the way forward?

[bluemango] 28/5/2020 14:15

Director buy, from Chairman Colin Clark.

5000 shares at total cost around £18,500.

[zac0_4] 27/5/2020 14:17

Hi speedsgh. Thanks for the link. The report contains some useful information. The table entitled 'Peer Group Comparison' is particularly illuminating! I hold MRCH although I've only started to build my holding here quite recently. Other investment trust holdings are HFEL and HHI. I've held HHI since April 2018 and total return (capital & dividend) is -14%. HFEL I've held since May 2017 with a total return of -3%. I've come to the conclusion that none of my dividend paying investment trusts will ever set the world on fire. However, providing they continue to pay a growing quarterly dividend they play an important role in my overall investment portfolio.

[speedsgh] 27/5/2020 13:24

Latest Edison research note...

Opportune reduction in gearing in early 2020 -

[zac0_4] 14/5/2020 15:54

Hi CT2000. WWH Investment Trust looks to have delivered a really good performance over a number of years. Slightly better than my investment in Legal & General Global Health and Pharma fund (accumulation version). One of the things I like from a fund rather than an investment trust is that if you only have limited cash to invest you can do so with as little as £100 with no penalties. When you purchase shares as in an investment trust you really need a minimum of £500, probably more, otherwise you're starting at a loss. You've a trading cost, £11.95 (ish), stamp duty and a spread (difference between buy and sell price). As an example, if you spent £500 on Merchants Trust you're 5.45% down immediately. For small investments funds (OEICs) serve me better.

[zac0_4] 12/5/2020 10:41

Hi, for me I don't find the Fundsmith Equity fund the exception to the rule, in fact it's not in my top3 . . . maybe I've been lucky. I hold a combination of OEICs (Investment Funds)and Investment Trusts. 16 in total. Here's my top and bottom 3 over the last 12 months (from today). All figures include dividend payments where applicable and costs.
Legal & General Global Tech +27%, Legal & General Global Health and Pharma +22%, Smithson Investment Trust +17%, Lindsell Train UK Equity -8%, Henderson High Income -14%, Merchants Trust -17%. For me investment funds throughout this market downturn have been far more resilient than my dividend paying trusts. What's also interesting is my top 2 are simply tracker funds with no active management involvement!!

[zac0_4] 11/5/2020 20:49

Hi CT2000
I agree that MRCH now looks quite appealing. I topped my holding up here earlier today and am hoping to see both capital growth and a (fairly) sustainable dividend. Re-investing the income, either here or elsewhere, over the long term should pay handsomely. I know you're not convinced regarding total return funds, and that I accept. However, and I'm not trying to convince you one way or another, but Fundsmith equity fund have just released the video from their 2020 annual shareholders meeting and it maybe of interest. I found it to be extremely interesting and informative. Go to www.fundsmith.co.uk and click on TV tab. Regards

[mister md] 11/5/2020 14:35

chart trader 2000 - thats exactly what I've been doing over past months & years. The UK market has so many decent companies/investment trusts with yields of 6% +
Only short-term issue is many dividends on hold, but hopefully they will be re-instated next year and shareprices recover some more in the meantime ..
Occasional shortterm trade for a bit of fun, but too much risk of losing if you do too much of that (especially if its on the dodgy AIM market)

[mister md] 11/5/2020 08:37

RDSB was their #1 holding in the previous listing - unfortunately ;) Luckily GSK is doing well

[zac0_4] 05/5/2020 13:36

For information - New top10 listing: GSK 5.92%, Imperial Brands 5.22%, BAT 4.81%, RDSB 3.53%, IG Group 3.18%, Tate & Lyle 3.13%, Barclays 3.07%, Land Securities 3.03%, BAE 2.95%, BHP 2.88%.
Top10 now accounts for around 38% of total portfolio as against 46% previously.

[mister md] 04/5/2020 10:29

Well, with FTSE at the same level as 21 years ago, I think (also relative to the US markets) anyone buying now will do ok over the next few years